UCLA

October 23, 2010

Oregon might be second in the Bowl Championship Series standings, but all that could change after a 60-13 rout of UCLA. Our friends at Image of Sport, the sports photography wire service for daily newspapers and editorial publications, were in Eugene on Thursday night and here is a sampling of their work. More images can be found at this link.

September 14, 2010

Rick Neuheisel felt an obligation to talk with fans after Saturday night's 35-0 spanking from Stanford, and even that didn't go well. Slick Rick started to talk, only to learn the microphone was shut off. After help from a cheerleader, he tried to explain what the handful of fans left in the Rose Bowl had just witnessed.

"We can't get any wor[se than this] ...," he said before realizing what he was about to say.

Where do the Bruins go from here in Year 3 of the Neuheisel Plan? Up next are Houston and Texas, meaning UCLA is a whisker from starting 0-4. After a winnable home game against Washington State, the team is back on the road for games against California and Oregon.

August 21, 2010

Today's quiz: Since the NCAA adopted the divisional setup in 1978, only four I-A teams have not played a I-AA opponent. Can you name them? (Answer at bottom of post.) The Rick Neuheisel ride hasn't been all that was promised. After a disappointing 4-8 in his first season as coach, the Bruins improved to 7-6 last season. The only reason the team earned a bowl berth in 2009 is because 6-6 Notre Dame declined one. This sets up a pivotal season in Westwood, with Neuheisel expected to continue the upward momentum. A slip to another 4-8 record would turn up the heat on the former Bruin quarterback, who has been handed a golden opportunity with rival USC being put on probation.

As a run-up to the start of the season, the Wiz will display one
poster each day until our supply is exhausted.

Then we turn it over to readers, who will vote on the poster of the
year. In the meantime, send your team's poster schedule to jayzuma (at)
gmail.com.

Last year, the site
displayed 69 posters. This is poster No. 52 for 2010. Thanks to Jana!

March 14, 2010

This public service announcement from UCLA's Rick Neuheisel, who outlines dos and don'ts for baseball aficionados planning to attend games at Dodger Stadium.

Neuheisel is no stranger to high-stakes pools, and considering that today is Selection Sunday, the Wiz would like to invite everyone to join The March to Madness NCAA tournament pool. It's open to all Facebook members. All you have to do is click here to challenge the best and brightest in the biz. Good luck!

Chow is scheduled to earn $640,000 next season. That figure includes a $250,000 bonus if he is offensive coordinator on April 1. USC is expected to offer considerably more, possibly in the $1 to $1.5 million range.

Although Bruin coach Rick Neuheisel expressed his desire to keep Chow, he told the Los Angeles Daily News that "no one would ever be angry at somebody if they got a blockbuster deal and felt like they couldn't turn it down."

November 29, 2009

I have no horse in this race, but after listening to whining from many (not all) USC fans after Jim Harbaugh went for two on his way to putting up double nickels against Petey, it's clear that Trojan fans and their coach have not learned any lessons about sportsmanship.

Carroll's logic in sticking it to UCLA Saturday night loses all credibility when you watch his reaction after the touchdown. As one person put it, he was "celebrating like a 13 year old at a Miley Cyrus concert." The Trojan players followed the lead of their coach, inciting the Bruins and nearly leading to an all-out brawl between the teams, the likes college football hasn't seen since Florida International and Miami played in 2006.

There's no degree of separation between the decisions by Harbaugh and Carroll. Simply, each was a bush league move.